Berlin Part I

On our second day in Berlin we decided to take a free tour with New Berlin Tours.  This is a walking tour of about 3.5 - 4 hours around several of Berlin's main attractions.  If you like the tour, then you can tip your guide at the end and buy tickets to any of New Berlin's other tours.  The tour that we went was great - Sadie, our guide, knew a lot about Berlin's history and was also quite entertaining.  She spoke mostly about the two World Wars and the Berlin Wall, but also gave some information about the 'birth' of Germany as a country.  If you ever head to Berlin, it is definitely worth considering.  Plus, it's free!

The Jewish Memorial

The memorial is amazing.  It is surreal, eerie and powerful.  You can't really tell from these pics, but the blocks are all different sizes and shapes.  Some are level with ground, others tower above you.  Others either narrow /  \ or widen \ _/  at the top, adding to the sense of confusion. The ground itself also changes, going up and down like a series of small waves.  It would be so easy to just wander through the memorial for ages - even the sound of traffic and people shouting and talking and laughing is dampened when you are amongst the blocks.

Ministry of Finance

This is a mural by the Communists to show how awesome Communism is and how happy everyone is under communism.  Opposite on the ground is a huge photo (same size as the mural) of a protest against communism that turned extremely violent.

The Berlin Wall

Pariser Platz

Church

Opera House

Opera House again

Book Burning Memorial

The book burning memorial is a window to an underground storeroom that is filled with empty bookshelves, showing in a visual way the huge void left by the book burnings.

Museuminsel (Museum Island)

Berlin Dome

The Berlin Dome was amazingly beautiful - from the outside, the inside and the view from the top.